SF Set to Embace Pride

It's been a rough year for organizers of the 43rd annual San Francisco LGBT Pride parade and celebration, but Pride chief Earl Plante still sounds enthusiastic about this year's theme, "Embrace, Encourage, Empower."

Plante, CEO of the San Francisco LGBT Pride Celebration Committee, said that to him, the theme means, "embracing all aspects of our community" and "diversity at all levels." It also invokes "empowering the broader global LGBT movement."

"San Francisco Pride is a thought leader ... it has been since its inception," Plante said.

This year's Pride festivities begin Saturday with the festival in Civic Center, from noon to 6 p.m. Sunday, the celebration in Civic Center runs from 11 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. The parade kicks off at 10:30 a.m. at Market and Beale streets and ends at Market and Eighth streets. The Pride festival is free, but a donation of $5 is suggested.

There will be jubilation in the streets as well, following Wednesday's historic victories at the U.S. Supreme Court. The court, in a pair of 5-4 decisions, overturned a section of the Defense of Marriage Act that had prevented the federal government from recognizing same-sex marriages.

In the second case, the court ruled that proponents of Proposition 8, California's same-sex marriage ban, did not have standing to appeal a trial judge's decision declaring that law unconstitutional. The ruling is likely to see same-sex marriages going forward in California.

Another event that could draw more people is the controversy that's surrounded Army private first class Bradley Manning. The Pride Committee announced in late April that Manning, the whistle-blower who leaked 700,000 classified government documents to WikiLeaks, was to be recognized as a grand marshal this year. However, Pride's board soon rescinded the honor and officials have bungled the matter several times and officials abruptly ended a meeting where Manning was supposed to be discussed. After a community forum May 31, the board declined to honor Manning in any way.

Asked about Pride's mishandling of the Manning ordeal, Plante said, "These sort of situations obviously are always a learning experience," but the organization is "moving forward in a positive direction. We think we've gone out of our way to try to listen and try to dialogue, and we're comfortable with the decision that was reached, and we're moving forward."

Another area of concern has been security. With trouble around the Manning affair a possibility, and increased attendance related to marriage, there have also been fears about safety in the aftermath of April's Boston Marathon bombings, which killed three people and injured scores more.

In a statement, Plante said Pride has hired additional security and is working closely with police. However, he said, "SFPD is still in charge of overall security and any details regarding specifics should be referred to SFPD." He also said officials couldn't go into "method planning" or other details, "as we would not want to alert those who might want to hurt our attendees."

He added, "[We] all have a collective stake to act in a catastrophic situation, in short 'If you see something, say something.'"

Sergeant Dennis Toomer, an SFPD spokesman, said that since the Boston bombings, "We're at a higher level of alert and precaution in general."

He said officers would be monitoring Pride events to "deploy resources wherever we need them."

Toomer said if police develop information regarding "disobedience going on either on the parade route or at the festival, we can deploy resources pretty quickly to help defuse that situation."

"Those discussions are still happening," Toomer said, but as of Monday afternoon there was "no special coordinated effort for any possible protest."

Toomer said cameras will go up on Market Street along the parade route and probably in the Civic Center Plaza area, as well. The cameras will be monitored live but only on Sunday during the parade and festival. There will be three cameras altogether.

He said the cameras would serve "just like any other eyes and ears," and police would be watching for "anything out of the ordinary," including confrontations. The cameras will go up sometime this week and will be taken down early next week, Toomer said.

"This is another tool for us" to monitor large crowds and ensure public safety, he said. The intention is not "to be a Big Brother and be the spy," he said. He also said cameras were used to monitor this year's Bay to Breakers race.

Entertainment

As with every year, Sunday's main stage should be a big draw for people attending Pride. Headliners will include Peaches and Herb ("Reunited," "Shake Your Groove Thing") and Xavier Toscano, a gay San Jose resident whose music is dance-urban pop.

Celebrity grand marshals will also be on hand. This year's honorees include out lesbian Tabatha Coffey, host of the Bravo TV show "Tabatha Takes Over" and out actor, singer, and songwriter Cheyenne Jackson ("Glee," "Xanadu").

Community grand marshals include Latina DJ Chili D, whose real name is Diane Felix and who has worked in HIV and AIDS education. Perry Lang and his partner, Kenneth Monteiro, are also being honored this year. Lang is the executive director of the Black Coalition on AIDS. Monteiro is dean of the College of Ethnic Studies at San Francisco State University.

As part of the celebration, various organizations make a diverse array of gathering spaces available. One of those is Queer Youth Space, which takes place Saturday and Sunday in Civic Center.

"All we want for young people to get out of the Queer Youth Space is to have a great time at Pride," Jamie Fountain of Larkin Street Youth Services said in an email. "We host the Queer Youth Space to give young people a space that is drug-, alcohol-, and stress-free for them to come hang out, rest, and relax as well as get something to eat and drink, play games and win small Pride-related prizes. We also offer free rapid HIV testing and counseling if needed."

Since 1997, Pride has been able to grant nearly $2 million to beneficiaries thanks to beverage purchases and donations made at event gates.

One of this year's community beneficiaries is Temenos Catholic Worker.

River Sims, a gay independent Catholic priest and the group's director, said, "I believe in Pride," and people should "be proud of being gay" and "be upfront about who we are."

Sims expects to receive $1,000 in exchange for providing volunteers for Pride.

"That pays for socks and pays for food that I serve to people in the street," he said.

Also this year, Buddhist Church of San Francisco is participating in the parade for the first time. Members "are participating in this parade to showcase its diversity, openness and inclusiveness of anyone who seeks the teachings of the Buddha and Jodo Shinshu, no matter of one's ethnic or religious background, origin, sexual orientation, disabilities," or other traits, a news release from the group said.

For more information about Pride, visit Pink Saturday